'Jew' Is Only Word in 1,250-Page Book

It's more than 1,200 pages long and contains just one word, six million times: "Jew." By signifying the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust, And Every Single One Was Someone is designed to stimulate discussion and meditation, the New York Times reports. "That’s how the Nazis viewed their victims," says author Phil Chernofsky, an Orthodox Jew. "These are not individuals, these are not people, these are just a mass we have to exterminate." But the idea isn't really original (exhibits at former death camps have piled shoes and eyeglasses) and some Holocaust educators are calling the new $90 Geffen title a gimmick.

A Holocaust museum in Jerusalem called Yad Vashem is taking a different approach, filling a huge Book of Names (6 1/2 feet tall, 46 feet wide) with the actual names of Jewish victims. "We have no doubt that this is the right way to deal with the issue," said the memorial's director. But Every Single One has supporters like the Anti-Defamation League, which is selling thousands of copies and hopes to put one in the Oval Office. "When he brought me this book I said, ‘Wow, wow, it makes it so real,'" said the league's national director. "It’s haunting." (It's not the only Holocaust news today: A US historian is returning an award from Hungary over what he calls the nation's attempt to erase its complicity in the Holocaust, Reuters reports.)